Welcome to iHeartRadio Communities, a public affairs special focusing on the biggest issues impacting you. This week, here's Ryan Gorman. Thanks so much for joining us here on iHeartRadio Communities. I'm Ryan Gorman, and we have a few very important conversations lined up for you. February, of course, is Black History Month, and coming up in just a bit, we'll check in with the
NAACP. But first, to kick things off, I'm joined by Jim Whaley, CEO of Mission Role Call, an incredible veterans organization that you can learn more about at Mission Role Call dot org. Jim, I want to thank you so much for a ticket a few minutes to come on the show, also for your service to this country. And let's start with an overview of the work Mission Role Call does and how this organization first came about. Sure well, first, Bryan, thank you for covering this very important topic and
for all of your support to that trend. Mission Role Call started because we all felt, and many people fell across nation that the voice of the American veteran was not represented. And so what we have done is put together a great network using technology to be able to get veterans to get their voice heard. Veterans make up about eighteen point five million Americans in our country, and about half of them are not represented by any organization, and half of those
also are not enrolled with the VA. So when you think about that, you know that policies and proceivers and decisions are being made without thinking about at least fifty percent of those veterans, and in many cases the other half have not had their voice heard. So that's what we're providing. We already have about one point four million people that follow US Veterans, families, members as
well as caregivers, and we're making a difference. The voice is starting to get heard and thanks to you and others, will be able to reach their
even broader audience. I know many people listening are thinking to themselves. There are so many veterans organizations across the country doing tremendous work, But a lot of those organizations they have a different mission than what you're working on at mission role call right, they're working to provide services and things like that for veterans, where you're trying to give veterans a voice, especially on policy matters,
and create change that way, that's exactly right and I think the other thing is that many of those large veteran support organizations filter is the voice of the veterans, right They ask specific questions around specific programs and policies that they have, and then that's combined and compared against their missions and objectives. And so what we do is ask questions directly to veterans in real time and provide those
feedback you both elected officials and to the media. And we feel that is the best way for the vetsine voice to be heard, and we applaud and we work very closely with a number of veteran support organizations. We're building a coalition so they can work with us and we can work with them to try to make the story get out in a better way. Uh. And the fact is is, if you think about it, there's there's thousands, tens
of thousands of veterine support organizations. The majority of them are very small, working in a local community, but doing great work. You would not need all those veteran support organizations if the VA was doing everything's supposed to do. So you know that that is a key takeaway. I think people need to think about think of any other organization in the federal government that needs so many
nonprofits to fill in the gaps. Imagine if the post office had those gaps right, and people have to deliver the mail all those type of things right. So this is we're trying to bring to the American people's attention the issues that we have, but also tell the positive and negative stories and ask insightful questions to our vetments in their families. I'm Ryan Gorman, joined by Jim
Whaley, CEO of Mission Role Call. You can learn more about this organization and support the work they do for veterans aid Mission Role Call dot org. How much has participation grown in recent years when you put out these surveys,
Oh, it's grown exponentially. In fact, we're we think we're going to double this year twenty twenty four with a number of veterans and their families that are answering questions, that are being members of our organization, which is free, and they provide their web they provide their emails address or contact information UH, And we send them updates and we and we and we give them feedback.
So when we ask a question UH, and then we compile it all, we go back to them and say this is what we heard to them. So it's really important to have that closed loop and that communication that goes both ways. And there's a lot of issues that we're talking about, right everything from vetman's benefits to Beman's suicide, to healthcare, to mental health,
to homelessness, which is an issue uh. And and then of course the transition UH that veterans have from active duty to a meaningful profession that's going to continue their service to the country. UH. And so that those are things that we're talking about, but it's also talking about the things that are in the forefront of our minds right now and come of that is around the election.
It could be about any number of subjects, and so we have an engaged group and it's a powerful group because we feel that elected officials will see these numbers and see what the what they're saying in respond And that was going to be my next question. What has the reception been like among elected officials members of the media once they're provided with this data. Well, both have been positive, but I think the media has seen really quickly the potential here.
I mean, there's there's potential to team with different media organizations to do surveys with them in conjunction with them on specific topics that they want to cover for their listening audience or their leadership. But I also think elected officials realize that these are votes. These are a group of people and their families that have served their country uh and deserve a voice. And we can provide information to them and real time feedback on things that they're voting for, the things
that they are pushing were not pushing uh. And so we think it's a powerful pool, and that's the way it's designed. We want to affect change. For some people, we will we will be something that they will rely upon to reach their audience and they will rely on us to get feedback. For other people, they won't like it because they may not hear what they want to hear. So that's okay, because we feel it's important that veterans
are represented. I mean, they've served their country, some of them a few years, some of them for decades, and their families have certainly sacrificed, and some of them have sacrificed a great deal. Veterans are part of
a fabric of our nation. They play a role in every aspect of our society, working in government, working in private business, starting businesses working in healthcare, police officers, firefighters, and it is one thing we always see, and that is that most veterans, vast majority, seem to serve their country and another capacity. So the service to service mindset is clearly there.
They want to be involved, they want to make a difference. They joined the service because they wanted to be part of something bigger than themselves and they want to continue that devotion to their country. I'm Ryan Gorman, joined by Jim Whaley, CEO of Mission Role Call. You can learn more about this organization and support the work they do for veterans at Mission Role Call dot org.
Are there any issues that you can think of that come to minds where you've gotten tremendous feedback from veterans across the country and you were able to bring that information to lawmakers, elected officials and create that change that veterans we're looking for. Yes, that is happening, and then we're happy to report on that because we feel that that's part of the advocacy piece of our organization and we play the instrumental role in the newly funded Fox brands that are addressing veterans
benefits. We're working with other Coalition members within the Veterans Support organizations in this country to push more support around and better support really around veterans' mental health as well as employment issues and benefits in general. And we're going to continue to
push on these things because we think it's important. I mean, we can, through our technology, go down to the congressional district on this, so we can survey people in a specific part of the country and present that to a Senator or a congressman to say, hey, you're voting a but your constituent her what b let's talk about that. And so we're very bullied by the growth in Mission Role Call, but we need support, right, we need more members to join. You don't have to be a veteran. We
just asked that you're passionate about veteran benefits, benefits and clauses. Maybe you have a service member in your family, maybe your son or daughter is in the service. You have a voice, and you should use Mission Roll Call to help you do that. And we're much stronger when we have ten and thousands and millions of voices versus you on your own trying to affect change of Congress. Good luck with that, and that's why we feel wor we play
such a key role. Let's talk about a recent survey that you conducted Mission roll Call, taking a look at some of the top issues among veterans ahead
of this upcoming presidential election. What did you find. Yeah, first of all, we had a great turnout and we always do on our polls, and we asked people, you know, what do you feel is the most important vecom issue that you watched here about during the US presidential election, and twenty eight percent said veteran benefits twenty four of course, to twenty five percent
that vecrin homelessness. Another twenty four percent talked about Beckron healthcare, and then the next one was around veteran's suicide support, which is around seventeen percent, So obviously a wide range. You know, there's six different categories there s Frudent security came up a little bit, and I'd like to talk about that if we get a chair a chan to talk about that both at the veteran level as well as active duty. But it's clear that our members are very
concerned about healthcare benefits and homelessness would be the top three. So let's talk about food insecurity, that issue in particular, what are you seeing there? Well, what we see is that we have about one point four million vetments receiving assistance right now from food banks across the country. And I think when you hear a number like that, you say, what, what's happening?
But then when you couple that with the fact that the Department of Defense reported last year twenty twenty three, so it's very recent that twenty four percent of active duty members have food and security challenges. That means they don't have money to buy healthy food, they don't have the resources to purchase food for tomorrow. There's a but it's mind boggling to me. And the nation is as strong as ours that nearly a quarter of our active duty servicemen and women are
worried about what their next meal is going to be. And I don't know how we as a nation. It's set to be competitive in the world. And even someone who doesn't read the newspaper or listen to news on a daily basis, you can't help but walk away and go this is not a safe world. There's a lot of danger out there by nations that we would like to see ill happen to us. You need a strong military for that. And twenty four percent of them are worried about food. That's a problem.
I'm Ryan Gorman, joined now by Jim Whalley, CEO of Mission Role Call. You can learn more about this great Veterans organization at Mission Role Call dot org. I want to ask you about the issue of homelessness among veterans, something that a lot of different organizations and groups have put a lot of resources towards. Have we seen any improvement in that area in recent years, Well, that the numbers actually went in the wrong direction, where we have more
people home homeless now than we did the year before. You know, on any given night, you have thirty five to forty thousand veterans experience homelessness in our country. That is. And the challenge with that is it's devastating as a devastating effect on veterans overall health, both their mind, body and soul.
And so we and part of this process is and this is what we're finding is that if the transition doesn't go well during the veterans leaving active duty and they and they don't find a job with purpose or a job at all, then you immediately in into financial insecurity. Uh. And then once that happens homelessness or or other things happen, such as mental health issues and challenges. So we have to make sure as a country that we understand the value
of what veterans bring to the workplace. They're highly trained, they're motivated, they're disciplined, they've probably learned a number of different skills, they have innate leadership capabilities. They've worked in an environment that has an ethos and a culture that takes care of one another, and they really are first round draft choices for any company. You can put vessins in almost any position and they're going
to thrive. But the challenge is is that sometimes this transition doesn't go well either. The vetment themselves underestimated the hill that they needed to climb, and so they've struggled with putting a resume together and networking and things like that. But it's also that the services aren't really dear to being a job market organization.
Right. They're great at getting you into the service, training you and getting you, you know, the skills you need to be on active duty, but when you decide to leave, you're going through a cookie cut or process that may not work for you. So you know, I would ask those viewers if they take away anything from this discussion, is that one support
the veterans support organization of your choice. It could be local, it could be one like Mission roll Call, it could be any veterans support organization that you feel is worthy of your time and effort and pressure. And the second would be if you run a business, reach out to a local organization that helps vest and skin employment and bring a veteran on, help a veteran network, introduce them to the local community, help them jump this hurdle so that
they can start their next phase. And I guarantee you that veteran will continue to service for her community. They will coach, they will volunteer, they will be someone that the community will look upon and say, that's a great neighbor, that is a great participant in our democracy, and that's the kind of person I want to be a friend with. And final question for you for those who do want to support Mission roll Call, specifically your organization and
the work you're doing, what are some ways they can do that? Well, the first way and the non cost way would be joint. All we need is your email address or a phone number that we can text polls to you. Or email those to you. Will send you if you desire updates on these goals and newsletters. We won't bomboard you, we won't sell it. But it's a great way for us to continue to grow as an organization.
And the reason I say that's so important is because you can imagine going into a senator's office when you represent a thousand veterans versus representing four million veterans. That's a different meeting when you represent three to four million veterans. And that's where we want to be. We want to be the largest veterans a member organization in our country, and we feel that will be a powerful way
for us to actually get elected officials to make changes. I mean, I retired from the military twenty years ago, and so that means I joined twenty years before that. And many of the same issues that we have today we have been. And part of that is we don't pay junior and listed enough money, so they are only a few thousand dollars above poverty, and then
we wonder why the transition doesn't go well. So we need to make the significant changes and investment that is going to make our nation stronger than our restence, stronger Jim Whaley, CEO Mission Role Call. You can learn more and support the work they do at Mission Role Call dot org. That's Mission Role Call dot org. Jim On, thank you so much for coming on the show, for the work you're doing on veterans issues, and of course for
your service to this country. We really appreciate it. Thank you, Ryan, I thank you team that you're doing. All right. I'm Ryan Gorman here on iHeartRadio Communities, and now let me bring in my next guest. I'm joined by the senior vice president of Marketing and Communications for the NAACP, Trevon Williams, joins me for Black History Month. You can learn more, of course about this organization at NAACP dot org. Travan, thank you so
much for coming on the show. And while I'm sure pretty much everybody listening now has heard of the NAACP, they might not be as familiar with the work that you do. Can you kind of give us an overview of your mission? Sure? Ryan, and thank you for the opportunity once again to
speak to you. I mean, at its core, the NAACP is in place to advocate and fight on behalf of marginalized communities, particularly within the Black community to ensure that they would receive equitable treatment, whether it be from voting rights, or education or health. We want to ensure that our community has the opportunity to advance at the same levels of the communities across the nation itself.
And so for over hundred and fifteen years, we just celebrated our one hundred and fifteenth year of existence just a few weeks ago, we've been fighting and standing on behalf of those communities and plays and honors to have the opportunity to continue to do. So, what are some of the issues that you're most focused on here in twenty twenty four. Well, I think it goes
without saying. In some respects, the upcoming election is absolutely vital to not just the long term prognosis for behalf of the black community, but really across
our entire nation with regards to the democracy itself. We've seen tremendous attempts from all walks of life, all backgrounds to try and undermine this democracy that many of us say that we stand so pointly on, and so getting voters to the polls, getting Black voters out of the poll is absolutely top of mind, vital in one of the one of the most important things that we do not just ensuring that we mobilize of millions of black voters from across the country,
but ensuring that their voting rights are not being infringed upon and that they're not being made successible to a bunch of misinformation and really persuasive messaging that is really being put in place to keep them from going to the pos that's one in particular, the other in particular. And we've seen a tremendous amount of
progress around this in particular over the last several months itself. With regards to student debts, we know that student debt is impacting really all communities, but the Black community is being impacted drastically with regards to this notion of education having to be paid for at a you know, some really unrealistic numbers and some respects, and so fighting very seriously and working very closely with administration and looks
across the country to ensure that we can do as much as possible to lift this weight, because we know that that student debt weight coming out of college is one that is so daunting that in many cases it's putting people behind behind the six of many respects and not allowing them the opportunity to get out and have the opportunity to succeed in the manner that that is the most vital. And then some of the other ones that we know that are absolutely important to
us as well. With regards to women's rights, we've seen some of the actions that have been taken over the last several months as well. Opposition remains very very clear that a woman to have the right to make a decision about what she does with her body in any way, shape or formance. So those are some of the issues that are top of mind for the association, but I'm sure there's others that are always going to rear its head over the
next several months. I'm Ryan Gorman, joined by Trebond Williams, NAACP Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications. Can you can learn more about the work they do at NAACP dot org. Can you tell us a little bit about your empowerment programs? Sure? So, I mean it really There are really a lot of different touch points with regards to it, but at its core,
empowerment programming is empowerment programs are meant to do just that. We want to figure out programmatic areas in which we can invest within our community and ensure
that they have the opportunities. And some of the great work that's happening around our environment programs include our small business brands that we've been able to stand up over the last several years, literally allowing small black businesses the opportunity to have funding that brands them the opportunity to one in some cases say in their communities, so that they can become sort of landmarks from milestones within their own communities
communities themselves, but then also brands from the opportunity to have distinguished networks that they can work alongside, so working alongside other business professionals, getting the training that are necessary so that they have the opportunity to not just start a business, but sustain and grow and help a business to continue to thrive the other side of that, going back to what I was mentioning with regards to the
educational components, with regards to how much student that has weighed down, is our scholarship programs themselves, something that we're very very proud of have been able to do some amazing things, giving millions of dollars away from college students all across this country, branding them the opportunity to start out just a little bit further ahead than they may have been otherwise, and so working with a number
of just really notable partners to build out unique scholarships themselves that we can make available year over year and be able to service those out to you know, communities that may not have the opportunity to get those. Those are some of the ones that come to mind first and foremost, because those are that's really is really about for us, is investing our community, advancing our community, and making sure that we can just stay in our community as much as possible.
What are some of the different ways that those listening can take action and become part of the work you're doing at the NAACP. Oh I love that question, Ryan, because it's what I love so much about this time of year and really just ex period is advocacy takes on many different methods. Right In many cases, when people think about the NAACP and this a sense you think of boots on the ground, you think is marketing, process and demonstration,
And absolutely that is who we are at its core. It's in our lifeblood of the organization. The advocacy takes on a multitude of different factors sounds advocacy takes on becoming sustainer excuse me of the organization itself, and that could be as some simple as giving five dollars a month to the naacpieces that we can continue to fight on behalf of community to color all across the country. It can be in one of the biggest GALTV mobilization efforts that we do around
this election season. We're mobilizing three hundred thousand volunteers from across the country to help get peer to peer contact specifically to their local areas. And what I mean by that is the opportunity to let those who are within your local community know, Hey, this is when the upcoming election is coming, we want you to take part in it. This is how you can ensure that your voter registration is up to par before going to the post, making sure that
that peer of peer test. We've learned through our research that that peared of your text, being able to speak specifically to someone who's in your local community that has a level familiarity makes a person more likely to take part in this exercise of democracy that we hold so dearly, and so find out to become a volunteer, you don't have to do anything but go to naacc dot org and get the information with regards to that, and you can literally help volunteer
from the confines of your home, making text mess making, text mesage calls to local people within your community, surely not even through your own device itself, just so you can let them know, Hey, there's an upcoming election coming up. Who wants you to take part in it? The NAACP is nonpartisans. You know, say you who to vote for, but we want to ensure that you go to the pole and you take advantage of the opportunity to vote for whoever you think you should, and that's that's your right in
that moment, right. But those are some of the main ones. Donate become a member of the NAACP. We want members in local community at twenty two hundred branches across the country. Why not sign up and be a part of a local NAACP within yours, within your space, and grant yourself the opportunity to be a part of the change that we are advocating for from across the country. Those are some of the ones that comes to mind. And final question for you, tell us about some of the resources that you have
available on the website. There are a number of different things that people can check out, from trainings and workshops to legislative rapport cards. Tell us about some of the things we can find there. Sure, our Voter Protection Hub gets you inside information as to what you can do around ensuring that your voter registration and those sorts of things that may be in questions come into place.
So our Voter Protective Hub is something that I think is very key any of the grand services programs that I may mention it to as well with regards to our grand small businesses, and then as well as our Scholarship Ortal with regards to signing your young people up to receive scholarships from the NAACP himself. And then lastly, as I did they mention it to, you can always go to NAACP dot organ become a member or a sustainer of the organization and help
us continue to fight this site. Trebon Williams, NAACP Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications. Again, the website where you can learn more is NAACP dot com. Trebon, I want to thank you so much for taking the time to come on the show and break all of that down for us. We really appreciate it, appreciate the time. Thanks so much. All right,
and that's going to do it for this edition of iHeartRadio Communities. As we wrap things up, I want to offer a big thanks to both of our guests, Jim Whaley, CEO of Mission Role Call, and Trebon Williams, the senior vice president of Messaging and Communications for the NAACP. You can learn more about both those organizations one more time add Mission rollcall dot org and NAACP dot org. And of course, thanks to all of you for listening to the show. If you want to hear more episodes, we're on your
iHeartRadio app. Just search for iHeartRadio Communities. I'm your host, Ryan Gorman. We'll talk to you again real soon.